Research Councils UK (RCUK) today welcomes the publication of the Research Excellence
Framework (REF) consultation. RCUK and the Funding Councils believe that the REF
will complement the work of the Research Councils in a way that strengthens the
operation of the current dual support funding system.
RCUK has worked closely with the Funding Councils to ensure that proposals for
the REF will be effective in pursuing shared objectives, particularly in terms of
rewarding excellent research and its impact. RCUK is committed to driving forwards
research, ensuring that the UK is a world leader in an increasingly competitive
global economy. It is essential that the quality of research outputs is assessed
against international standards of excellence to enable the UK to maintain and build
upon its world leading position.
RCUK welcomes the recognition of impact within the REF as a separate assessment
category and the commitment shown to embedding impact throughout the process. We
are particularly pleased that the REF employs a wide definition of impact, which
will reinforce the approach already adopted by RCUK. We support the proposed pilot
exercise and look forward to working with HEFCE to test the assessment of impact
and to help develop the most effective system.
We commend HEFCE's commitment to building on progress made in successive Research
Assessment Exercises (RAE) to recognise and reward interdisciplinarity as an integral
part of the new REF. We also support HEFCE's position that there is a role for quantitative
evidence, including citation information where appropriate, but believe that peer
review should still form the backbone of any assessment of research excellence.
Professor Ian Diamond, Chair of RCUK, expressed his support for the consultation:
"RCUK and the Funding Councils have made significant progress in working together,
which I believe is demonstrated throughout the consultation document. We have been
involved at every step of the way and have been able to ensure that RCUK goals and
aspirations are embedded in and complement HEFCE's aims in running the REF."
RCUK will be commenting in more detail on the specific questions raised within
the consultation in our formal response.
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Contact:
Chloe Somers, RCUK Press Officer, 01793 444592,
chloe.somers@rcuk.ac.uk
Notes for editors
- The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has published a
consultation on the new Research Excellence Framework (REF), on behalf of the
four UK higher education funding bodies: Higher Education Funding Council for
England (HEFCE), Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW), Scottish
Further and Higher Education Funding Council (SFC), Department for Employment
and Learning (Northern Ireland) (DEL).
- The REF is the new process for assessing research in UK higher education
institutions (HEIs), in order to allocate funding selectively. It will replace
the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).
- The REF will focus on three elements: output, impact and environment, which
together reflect the key characteristics of research excellence. It will be
based on universities and HE colleges submitting evidence of their research
activity and outcomes which will be assessed by expert panels against these
three elements.
- The proposals published today follow an initial consultation on the REF
in late 2007. They build on a pilot exercise on the use of citation information,
consideration of how to assess the impact of research as a key new element in
the framework, lessons drawn from the 2008 RAE, and extensive advice and discussions
with a wide range of stakeholders.
- Research Councils UK is the strategic partnership of the UK's seven Research
Councils; they invest annually around £3 billion in research, covering the full
spectrum of academic disciplines from the medical and biological sciences to
astronomy, physics, chemistry and engineering, social sciences, economics, and
the arts and humanities.
The seven UK Research Councils are:
- Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC);
- Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC);
- Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC);
- Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC);
- Medical Research Council (MRC);
- Natural Environment Research Council (NERC);
- Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC).